Why I love spring!

Aside from the obvious reasons of warmer climate, I love to be able to get outside and enjoy the day. Summer gets so hot and humid that it's impossible to enjoy yourself unless you are at a pool or by a lake. Winter is just cold and icky. Spring is the most amazing thing. The grass goes from a miserable brownish tinged, crunchy, tundra-like wasteland to - and this is especially amazing in Kentucky - a beautiful, bright, fresh, aromatic green. Here the green is nearly flourescent. It's like neon green and just grows so quickly. It's fabulous!

I watch for the robins. There are some birds that stick around all winter. You know it's springtime, however, when you see robins. The red-breasted birds come out as the weather turns warmer and you know it's going to continue with that trend. I get excited, giddy even!

Another bonus is the time change. I hate losing an hour when it first gets snatched away, but the sunset at 7:30 PM is wonderful! It's allowed us to spend more time actually working with the horses. I have been training Ellie and every nice day (that is sans rain or snow or, as in this past Saturday, hail and tornadoes!) I spend a couple of hours in the round pen giving her some lessons and tuning her so she's easier to control and ride. I've added some pictures here of us tonight. The girl on Ellie is Morgan Bailey. Morgan is Cili's friend. Her mom, Merideth, and I are close friends and Morgan comes over every morning when Merideth goes to work. She and Cili walk to school together or I drive them if I'm working. She comes after school until her mom gets home from work so she spends lots of afternoons at the barn with us. In one photo is John leaning on Lady. It's hard because she's too young to ride so she just needs ground training, but when the pen is muddy it's difficult. There's been a lot of rain this week so the ground is just muck and yuck right now!!

The ups...and downs of horses

Today we went to the barn to feed the horses, as is our usual routine. All was fine. The girl who manages everything there, Aubree, is one of 14 people in the world trained by and working with the renowned Monty Robers, "The Man Who Listens to Horses." She's fabulous. She was getting her Percheron ready for some work. His name is Patrone and he stands 18 hands high and weighs about 1400 pounds. He's a big boy! He's basically a draft horse, like a Clydesdale, just huge really. Anyway, John asked her what she was going to work on with him and Aubree told him she was going to do some ground driving and asked if John had ever done any ground driving. He said no and she asked if he wanted to help her and she'd show him some techniques. He asked if he could ride Patrone sometime and she said that he could ride after they'd worked with him a bit.

They worked for 20 minutes or so and then John went to get on Patrone. Apparently, when he was getting on he nicked Patrone in the flank (very sensitive) with the toe of his boot and Patrone responded by bucking. That threw John off balance and he landed on Patrone's rump instead of in the saddle. That kept Patrone bucking and John tried to stay on and pull himself into the saddle. After 3 bucks John couldn't hold on any longer and he flew up in the air and down onto the ground. Aubree and I ran to him to see if he was okay. He was laying face down on the ground and not responsive at all. We rolled him over and his eyes were open but he was snoring. It was the most freaky thing I have ever seen. He was unconscious for a couple of minutes and then started coming to.

He tried to stand up and was pushing us off him because we were trying to keep him still on the ground. I had called 911 and an ambulance was on the way. He finally stood up and the EMTs arrived. They let him walk into the ambulance, which proved to be quite a feat in itself as he was falling backwards and really struggling with the steps. They were first just going to look at him because he kept saying he was fine. However, when they asked him who the President was and he said Bush or Clinton, they decided he probably had a moderate concussion and needed to go to the ER. I told him I was going to take the girls home and meet him there. He asked me what girls were there with us. He didn't remember we'd brought Cili and her friend Chastity. I was freaking out but just wanted to get to the hospital with John.

When I got to the ER they brought me in to his room and asked him a few more questions. He couldn't remember our phone number, how old he was, or the President, still. They took John in for a CT scan which showed nothing serious had happened to his noggin. That was a relief! They said John would continue to ask the same questions over and over as he tried to regain his memory. They said he could sleep but to wake him every 20 to 30 minutes to make sure he was coherent. We were there for about 2 hours and they let us go. Seriously, the shortest trip to the ER I've ever made!

John's home now and sleeping in his chair. He's hurting pretty bad now, obviously he has a headache. He doesn't have any spot on his head where his head hit so I'm not sure what happened exactly to his head. He may have just jarred it pretty badly. His wrist is hurting him now and he thinks it's sprained. I may take him back for an x-ray if he'll let me, but we'll see. I'm just happy to have him safe and sound. It really was one of the scariest moments of my life.

I know it's going to happen, Aubree said it best when she said it was the first of many times to come. It's just hard to see your husband, who you view as the total tough guy, in such a vulnerable and fragile position. I'm so thankful he's safe at home!

Our usual weekends...

Usual, that is, if it's nice out. Lately it's been so cold that we have run out to the barn, grained the horses, and then jumped back into the warmth of the Jeep! I haven't ridden in 3 weeks because it's been cold, muddy, yucky, you name it!

Today was lovely! It was in the mid-70s. The wind was blowing, making my allergies act up something fierce, but not even 10-per-minute sneezes and itchy eyes could have kept me away form that barn!

John worked on Lady's feet and I had Connor on Ellie bareback working on the neck reining we started 3 weeks ago. I think she's getting better, I've been working on getting her back to basics. She's got some bad habits that someone else let her continue but it's not working for me!

John has started ground-work with Lady. She's a pretty girl and she's getting better, but she's got a long ways to go...the cuteness wears off and we need her to do what we ask her to do now.

I put a picture in here of Cili and her friend Morgan riding a few weeks ago. Cili is on a 25-year old named Khaliff and Morgan is on Ellie. The others are from today...

Again...O'Keefe Zoo

Because we simply do not have enough pets...HA! We wanted to get another horse that was older that the kids could ride. Lady won't be ready to ride for another couple of years and we didn't want the girls especially to lose interest. I knew I'd need to get another Tennessee Walking Horse so that when we ride together we'll be able to actually stay together. Walking Horses are gaited, they have a much longer and smoother stride. If I got a Quarter Horse like I wanted, I would be left in the dust.

Anyway, I also wanted a horse that was broke and a little bit more mature. After much looking, I found Ellie Mae. Her registered name is Paint's Little Red. She's 14.3 hands high and is a sorrell. She actually has the same color hair as Cecilia! We got her on the7th of February and she's 10 years old. She still isn't too sure about us but I'm working on getting her comfy around me so she'll come to me in the pasture. Today when we went to give the girls their grain, she actually RAN to the dry pen because she knew we'd have food for her. All of us have had a chance to ride her, if only in the dry pen (John, Connor, and I have all had her out in the large pasture). We got a saddle for the boys, John, and me, and a smaller one for the girls. Cili's legs are just a tad too short but we'll see if we can work with it for now.

We are also working on getting the mare and the filly to be nice to each other. Lady is the baby and Ellie lets her know that. It is to the point now where whenever Ellie walks near Lady she just scampers off. She doesn't wait to be told by Ellie! Yesterday we worked in the dry pen walking them around, as if on a trail, and then taking them in opposite directions and having them cross paths. We need them to be buddies. John wants to breed Ellie right away but I am thinkin we will wait until we know if we are going to get to move or not. It's easier to travel with a 2 horse trailer than having to buy a larger one for now.

On a completely separate note, Cass' cat had kittens on Valentine's Day. She was so funny. She came downstairs and just looked at us and started moaning this terrible meow. I knew she was getting ready to have the babies. I set up a little dark kennel in my closet and sat with her for awhile. I watched as she had 4 beautiful babies and then had to come down to make dinner. Not too long after John announced that baby number 5 had been born. After dinner we went back upstairs to find kitty number 6! I couldn't believe she had that many. Burrito (the cat) is not a big cat, she's petite and quite young still. I was impressed by how great she did and she is really being a great mommy now.

We also had 2 more cockatiels hatch this week for a grand total of 7 birds, 7 cats, 2 horses, 2 rabbits, 1 guinea pig, a tankful of fish, and 3 dogs. I'm going to start charging admission...sheesh!

My baby turns 9!

Cecilia is excited about her gifts!

From left: Chastity, Cili, Natalia (in front), Sammi (peeking through), Morgan, and Julie.






It's hard for me to believe that my baby, my youngest child, the one who will forever be a baby in my mind, turned 9 on Saturday. She's growing up and getting bigger every day. No matter, she'll always be 2 to me.

Cecilia had a sleepover for her birthday. She had 4 friends over and her big sister, Sammi, to celebrate. We had a big spaghetti dinner, played twister...funniest thing ever with 6 little girls (ok, 5 little ones and 1 tween)...had cake and ice cream, played Wii (Cili got a High School Musical sing-along game), and ate a bunch of junk. It was a blast. Cecilia really enjoyed herself and her friends were fabulous to have over.

Sammi in mid-fall!

Welcome Home No Slack!

Tonight was the welcome home ball for John's battalion, 2/327 "No Slack". The first hour and a half was mingling with friends. It was so neat for me to get to meet the guys that John served with. I got to hear how much other guys who deployed with John respected him and enjoyed their time in Iraq with him. Of course, I know how fab he is, but hearing others tell me makes me so proud I can't hardly stand it. We had a really nice time for sure! After the mingling, we went in for dinner and a program. They posted the colors...is it just me or are you supposed to put your hand over your heart while the flag is brought in and keep it there through the singing of the National Anthem? I did but I didn't see any of the other women doing that. The soldiers were all at attention, it was neat to see.

After the posting of the colors they had a few toasts and named all the soldiers who had been killed during this deployment. They had a table set up for those soldiers in memorial and it was really touching to hear their names and hear the significance of each part of the table, the wine glass inverted but not filled, the red roses and the yellow ribbon, the salt for the tears of their families, the slice of lemon for the bitterness of their sacrifice. And then the moment of silence. They dimmed the lights and a room full of soldiers and wives/girlfriends was absolutely silent. It was very moving.

SGM Chris Fields came down to the "Grog" and as the 1st SGT's from each company came to the podium and described a different battle in history, beginning with WWI and 2/327's involvement, they added a different drink...the first, to signify the blood from WWI was a port wine. I can't remember all of the drinks but there was a rice wine from Vietnam, Chai from Iraq, Gatorade because they never quit, Near Beer for one I can't remember. Each man who poured the bottle in had to drink some from the bottle. One had to add "sand" from the Iraqi desert (brown sugar, really). When he put some in his mouth, the collective groan was priceless! It was so funny to hear the room in an uproar as each company's representative drank from the bottle they added to the grog. The SGM tasted it and wanted to add something so he pulled up an army boot and poured something in, he said, "I had a couple of blisters, just a couple." He then filled his giant mug and drank and drank until it was empty. The room exploded with "HOOAH!" and applause. It was really tobasco sauce! Then they had the youngest soldier from each table come to the center table and dip a pitcher from the grog to bring back to the table. This was the best, John and a SGT Graeser (sp?) (who had earlier identified themselves as the senior citizens of the battalion) both looked at SFC Reynolds and he got this sort of sick look on his face as he realized that he was the young guy. He went up and filled the pitcher and brought it back to the table and poured some in each of the 3 soldier's glasses at our table. There was then a final toast to the battalion and they all drank this crazy concoction. These moments of tradition, pomp and circumstance, and symbolism are so inspiring to me. I love it!

Anyway, I have a couple of pictures here from tonight. Just a couple from the house before we left and one from the opening reception so you can see how John and I looked. Then one that shows the final toast with the guys about to drink the "grog". I wouldn't trade these moments for anything!

Our newest addition

If there was ever a question about whether or not we love animals...well you just don't know us! This is Lady...well, technically, Beaucoup's Splendid Lady, our 9 month old Tennessee Walking Horse. We just picked her up on Saturday and we are keeping her at a farm a few miles from home. She is really warming up to us and is just a beautiful horse. We'll be getting another in a week or so that is broke to ride so the girls will have a horse to ride and practice with because Lady won't be ready to ride for another 18-24 months.
It's been a lifelong dream of mine to have horses and John has been wanting to get the girls involved with horses for a few years...the time has finally come!!! We are all excited, all the kids want to be involved and we go out to see her and tend to her a couple of times a day.
Here are some pics!

Tonight the girls were grooming her and she was talking to them!
Our pretty baby!

Sammi wanted to eat a little hay with Lady...ewwwww!!

This was the week before we picked her up. We got her from Swift Walk'n Farm in Tennessee...a REAL Tennessee Walker from Tennessee! John thinks that's pretty darn special!